Blood Is Thicker Than Water
by LukeBryanFan
Summary: A woman from Adam's past has disappeared and her father asks for Adam's help


**** note: sorry if some words are put together...I had pasted it and was tired and got lazy. But you can get the meaning of it all. I promise to have another chapter up as soon as I can get one up. And to all of you wondering if this has anything to do with my other fanfic, it doesn't. This one is strictly a kidnapoing/ mystery for an idea me and a friend had .******

Adam Cartwright pulled his brown chestnut horse to a stop near two men arguing. One man ( a skinny man) sat on a black and white pinto and the other ( a big man compared to Adam and the skinny man) on a black stallion with a white blaze. The two men had no idea that Adam had ridden up.

"Where's Adam, Little Joe?" Asked the man on the black stallion.

"He's back a ways." Little Joe replied

.

"What for?" Asked the big man.

"Well maybe he's going over his love life, Hoss. I don't know." Little Joe said.

"What love life?" Hoss said, laughing. At this Adam pulled his head back an inch and frowned. At the same time, Adam spotted about 6 men on horses riding up on them.

"Adam has a love life. Its better than ours though but he still has a love life." Little Joe said. Adam took out his Colt .45, and cocked back the hammer. Little Joe and Hoss jumped.

"H-how long you been there Adam?" Little Joe asked nervously.

"Long enough to watch those 6 men over there come this way while you two discussed my, uh, non love life." Adam said. CLICK! Came a sound behind Adam.

"Drop your guns, Cartwrights." Ordered a voice behind Adam. Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe did as they were told as the 6 other men rode over.

"Tie their hands together and gag the kid. Boss said he was mouthy and that will annoy me very much if I have to listen to him talk all the way there." Said one of the men in the group that had just arrived. Adam nodded and all three Cartwrights jumped off their horses and at a man or two near them.

Little Joe jumped and punched one of the men in the face, hard. Another one grabbed him from behind and the man he punched started punching him in the gut repeatedly.

"Hoss, help Little Joe!" Adam knocked one of the men over as he called out to Hoss who had just banged two of the men's heads together.

"Alright." He went over to the men that held Little Joe and punched the one holding his brother. Once Little Joe was free, he helped Hoss finish the two off. Adam had finished with the rest.

"What do you reckon they wanted?" Hoss asked once all the men were unconscious.

"I don't know but we have to report this to Sheriff Roy Coffee before they come back to their senses." Adam replied, getting back onto his horse. All three of the Cartwrights made their way to the sheriff's office and explained what had just happened.

"Hm.. You boys head on home, I'll take care of the men and found out why this had happened." The sheriff said.

"But we had-" Little Joe started to say.

"Thanks sheriff, we'll let our pa know about this." Adam interrupted his brother and they all rode back to the ranch together.

Ben Cartwright was in front of the house cleaning up and he looked at his approaching sons. "What happened to-"

Adam quickly explained what happened.

"Oh, that's horrible, are you boys alright?"

"Yeah, pa." Hoss nodded.

"Well go inside and get washed up for supper, we'll talk more as we eat." Ben said.

"So me and Hoss had to fight two men while Adam fought with 6 other men. Pa I'll never figure out how Adam is able to fight six men all by himself. It was like that one time the loggers didn't like him being bull of the woods and Adam took them on singlehandedly." Little Joe said.

"Once you figure that out, you can figure out your love life little brother." Adam said. Ben and Hoss started laughing and Little Joe's face turned red. There was a knock at the door. "I'll get it." Adam got up and walked to the door. He opened it and two hands grabbed him by his shirt front and pulled him outside.

"Adam!" Little Joe said and ran over to the door but Hoss grabbed him. "Let me go Hoss! They've got Adam!"

"We don't know that for sure Joe. It could be someone that needed to talk to Adam privately." Hoss said.

"And urgently. Let's go check just in case." Ben said and they grabbed their guns. Ben opened the door to find Adam standing there talking to a man.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to come off as threatening." The man said loudly, noticing Ben, Hoss, and Little Joe standing there with their guns out. "It's just some urgent matters that needed to be discussed."

Ben looked at Adam who nodded, symbolizing that it was safe for them to leave. Once the other three Cartwrights were inside and out of sight, the man cleared his throat.

"Do you remember a young lady named Annabelle Wotski?" He asked.

"The name sounds familiar.." Adam trailed off as he started to remember. Annabelle was a fair little lady whom he met at the bar a while back. He hit it off pretty good for a while with her but it ended when a jealous bystander challenged him. Adam won easily since his pursuer was drunk but the lady gone. "Ah yes, I recall her. What's the problem?"

"She's my daughter and she went missing recently." The man, Mr. Wotski, said.

"I'm sorry but I don't see what that's got to do with me." Adam replied.

"She left me this note, and it mentions your name." Mr. Wotski explained, pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket and handing it over to the other.

Adam read it quietly to himself;

'Dear father, I am afraid that I can not stand living with you anymore. I'm running off and I'm going to find myself a man. A specific man who goes by the name, Adam Cartwright. With love, A.W.'

"That seems kind of harsh." Adam whistled a bit.

"I want your help." Mr. Wotski practically pleaded.

"I'm sorry sir but I've got problems of my own that I need to deal with. When that's settled I'll do my best to help you but until then I suggest going to the sheriff." Adam shook his head.

"Ah.. You're right, I'm sorry I shouldn't have just pushed this on you. Thank you for your time anyway." Mr. Wotski walked away sadly.

Adam watched after him for a while then went back in the house.

"Adam?" Ben said making Adam look at him.

"Yeah pa?" Adam asked.

"What's wrong now?" Ben asked. Adam looked at his Pa and brothers. He threw his hands up and sat in the blue chair he always sits in.

"Annabelle Wotski disappeared." Adam said.

"Disappeared?" Little Joe said.

"Well ran away actually and she left her father this note." Adam said, handing the note to Ben. Ben, Hoss, and Little Joe read it. Ben looked back over at Adam, who had now took to sitting in front of the fireplace and sat staring at the flames flickering and crackling while being deep in thought.

"Did you know why she was going to try to find you?" Ben asked.

"No. Nor do I know why she picked me to come find. I mean our relationship ended when I found her gone after the fight with the drunken bartender. But why runoff and find me specifically?" Adam said to himself.

"See Hoss? I told you Adam has a better love life than us." Little Joe said. Adam who had his head on his clasped hands, rolled his head to his left to look at his youngest brother.

"Joe, you just have bad luck when it comes to women. You're attracted to the wrong kind. You're attracted to the ones that have husbands-"Adam said .

"That was only once." Little Joe interrupted which caused Ben to glare at him.

"You're attracted to women who leave you, sick women, and saloon girls." Adam said.

"What about that saloon girl you were going out with? Hmm? I'm not the only one who goes out with saloons girls." Little Joe said.

"That's enough about women, I mean if anyone has bad luck with them it's me." Ben scolded his sons. There was silence for a while until Hoss decided to break it.

"Uh, we didn't get to finish dinner."

Everyone laughed and went to the kitchen to finish eating.

***AFTER DINNER***

"Tomorrow I'm going to go see what the sheriff figured out about the men." Ben said suddenly while all four Cartwrights sat in the living room content with little things.

"Can we come?" Little Joe asked.

"No." Ben replied.

"Oh come on, leaving us here could give who ever sent those men another chance at us." Adam said.

"...Fine, but I don't want you out of my sight." Ben finally agreed after five minutes of an intense stare off.

"You're welcome." Adam said to his youngest brother. Little Joe rolled his eyes in reply.

***Next Day***

The four Cartwrights rode into town on their horses and settled down in front of the sheriff's office.

"It seems awful quiet." Hoss said as he started entering the building.

"It's always like this on Mondays." Ben replied, letting his sons enter the office first then joining them.

From behind the sheriff's desk, Roy Coffee stood up and came over.

"Howdy Ben. Adam. Hoss. Little Joe. What can I do for you folks today?" Roy said.

"Roy did you get those men locked up?" Ben asked. Roy Coffee steepled his hands and looked at Ben and his sons.

"I went to where you boys told me you were attacked but I couldn't find anything but scuff!e marks and hoofprints f about 11 horses." Roy said. Adam, who had noticed something strange about sheriff Coffee, unholstered his gun. Adam checked med where the cells were at and made a clean sweep of the cell holding room and the office.

"Roy just so you know, Annabelle Wotski disappeared and left her father a note telling him she ran away to find me." Adam said.

Roy sighed at him. "That note was forged." He said. "When her father came in yesterday I read the note and noticed that the handwriting wasn't hers at all. I'm assuming her father didn't notice due to being so panic stricken." He explained.

"Really? Then who's was it?" Adam asked.

"I'm not sure but I do know that something real strange is happening." Roy replied.

"Sounds to me like she's been kidnapped." Hoss said.

"Thank you for saying that, it's not like it was obvious or anything." Little Joe told him.

"Shut your mouth before I shut it for you." Hoss threatened.

"Go ahead. " Little Joe was about to throw a punch but Ben stopped him.

"Stop and show some respect, I apologize sheriff." He scolded.

"It's alright" Sheriff Roy Coffee said.

"Pa we weren't really gonna fight. Right, Joe?" Hoss said.

"We were just messing around Pa." Little Joe said. Adam glared at them and Little Joe gave a hesitant wave to Adam.

"Could it be a trip set for Adam, Roy?" Ben asked concerned.

"Pa I can take care of myself." Adam said. He was going to say more but Ben held up a hand.

"I know you can take care of yourself but you are a Cartwright are you not?" Ben said.

"Well yes but-" Adam started to protest.

"No buts. You're a Cartwright, you're part of this family, and well protect you as best we can." Ben said. "Which means no leaving the ranch until this is over." Adam folded his arms across his chest, looked down at the floor, and sighs heavily. "Yes, Adam? "

"Those men were after me, Joe, and Hoss. Not just me." Adam said. Roy Coffee walked back over to his desk and sat back down to let Ben handle his sons himself.

"I know but something tells me that they"ll come after you especially again." Ben said.

"Is it because of Miss Annabelle's disappearance?" Adam sighed. "I guess it can't be helped."

"Lighten up older brother, at least you have us." Little Joe said.

"Yeah that makes it all better." Adam replied but laughed a bit.

"I'll let you all know if I find out something else." The sheriff suddenly spoke up.

"Alright, thank you sheriff." Ben nodded and left the office with his sons and they all rode back to the ranch.

Adam sat on the edge of the porch with his head on his hands in deep thought again. Little Joe came over and sat next to his oldest brother.

"I can't believe we have to stay here at the house. I thought when he said ranch he meant the whole ranch not just the house." Little Joe said. Adam looked at him then chuckled.

"Well looks like you can beat Hoss in some more checker games. I don't like being cooped up at the house anymore than you do but that's what Pa told us." Adam said.

"What's bothering you Adam?" Little Joe asked.

"The note Annabelle left. It was her handwriting so why would her father tell sheriff Coffee that it was forged?" Adam said.

"I don't know, Adam that's what makes this all so confusing." Little Joe replied.

"I just hope this ends soon because we have a lot of work left to do on this ranch and postponing it will just make it worse." Adam sighed.

"I know Adam, I know..." Little Joe shook his head.

"Come on guys, dinner is ready." Hoss went outside to them and told them.

"Thanks, we'll be there in a minute." Little Joe stood up when Hoss went back inside. "Let's go."

"I'm right behind you." Adam said, also standing up.

"No you're not, Cartwright. Both of you take off those gun belts and toss them over here." Said a voice from behind Adam and Little Joe. The two complied but both grabbed their guns from their holsters and both went in different directions shooting as five men took cover. Adam looked at Joe, who motioned to the door. Adam fired off shots as Little Joe ran and opened the door. Then covered Adam as he ran inside as well they closed the door and took positions with Hoss and Ben.

"I told you they were after all three of us Pa." Adam said from his position at the window by Ben's desk.

"They tried to get both me and Adam Pa." Little Joe said from his position by the window behind Ben's desk. Adam fired a shot out his window the same time Little Joe did. Hoss, who was in the bedroom near the kitchen, fired a shot as well. Ben was at the window behind the table and fired a shot then ducked and heard the bullet go by. Hop Sing, the Cartwright's cook, came out of the kitchen.

"Too much shooting, Hop Sing no cook. Too much noise for Hop Sing." Hop sing said in broken English.

"Sorry Hop sing but we're kind of under attack." Ben told him, shooting out the window.

"I think we got them, pa!" Little Joe called out. Adam went to check it out.

"All but one, we injured this one." He called out.

The Cartwrights all went to check it out and saw one of the men about to bleed to death. "Let's make a deal." Ben told him. "We'll patch you up and send you on your way with no problem if you agree to tell us everything we want to know." He explained.

"But pa-"

"No buts." Ben interrupted Hoss.

There was a pause from the injured man.

"If you want to live you'll answer our questions mister." Adam said. The man stared at him. The man took one last breath then died.

"Now well never know what we wanted to know." Little Joe said.

"Well you boys had better get some rest after what happened. Me and Hop Sing will take care of the bodies." Ben said. Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe went inside.

***Later On That Night***

Adam sat reading a book in his bed when he heard a noise. He sat as silently as possible and heard the noise again. He got out of bed and grabbed his extra gun out of his side table drawer and silently opened the door. Adam slowly walked to the stairway down to the ground floor and could make out the noise. It was the whispering of men from over near the fireplace. Adam peeked around the corner and saw his brothers talking still dressed in their clothes from earlier that day, like himself.

"Fine pair of brothers you are." Adam said, quietly. Little Joe and Hoss turned to look at him.

"You know, I reckon older brother here has said that before. Don't you Little Joe?" Hoss said.

"You know , you're right. He said that when we got him into that trouble with Abigail Jones and Hank Meyers." Little Joe said.

"Alright what are the two of you discussing? If it concerns what happened yesterday and today, don't you think I should be in n on it too?" Adam said.

"Oh, yeah we would've included you but you looked so beautiful in your sleep that we didn't want to disturb you." Hoss said in a joking voice. Little Joe laughed.

"Haha very funny." Adam rolled his eyes.

"Sorry older brother." Hoss apologized.

"Boys." Ben's tired voice yelled from upstairs. "Go to bed, you shouldn't be up this late." He demanded.

"Sorry, pa." Little Joe yelled back.

"You should've lowered your voice like I told you to." Hoss hissed to Little Joe.

"Well you're the one who's just standing there talking about stuff that has nothing to do with the subject!" Little Joe yelled back.

"Calm down-" Adam began.

"Why I oughta beat the living daylights out of you!" Hoss growled.

"What's stopping you? The fear of losing?!"

"BOYS THAT'S ENOUGH, GO TO BED!" Ben practically screamed.

Adam shook his head. "Prepare for punishment in the morning." He said then walked back upstairs to his room.

"Your fault." Little Joe grumbled to Hoss as he walked upstairs.

"Shut up." Hoss said, following Joe.

***The Next Day In The Afternoon***

All three Cartwrights were out on the South fence line mending the fence. Ben Cartwright came riding up on his horse.

"When you boys are done with that part of the fence, we have a herd to move to the North pasture." Ben said. Hoss and Little Joe groaned and Adam just kept fixing his part of the fence. " Just for complaining, you tow get to hel Hop Sing do the dishes."

"What about Adam Pa?" Little Joe asked.

"What about him?" Ben asked.

"Don't he have to help too?" Hoss asked.

"Well while you two were talking with Pa, I fixed my part of the fence." Adam said.

"What?!" Little Joe and Hoss exclaimed. Ben smiled at Adam.

"Get to work you two, me and Adam will help drive the herd to the North pasture." Ben said as Adam mounted up on his horse.

"But Pa-"Little Joe and Hoss started to say.

"No buts! Get to work. Let's go Adam." Ben said. He and Adam rode off leaving Little Joe and Hoss to finish mending the broken part of the southern fence.

"Why is pa favoring Adam all of a sudden?" Little Joe complained as he went to work.

"I don't know, maybe because he didn't start a fight last night." Hoss replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Little Joe yelled in anger.

"Really, you're going to start another fight regardless of what happened last night?" Hoss said.

Little Joe sighed. "You're right, I'm sorry." He went back to work.

***ADAM AND BEN***

"How do you think Hoss and Little Joe are doing?" Adam asked his dad as he watched him herd the last of the cattle. Adam stood by on his horse.

"They're probably getting along swimmingly. " Ben rode over to Adam. "Come on, we need to work on the fence toward the north."

"Okay pa." Adam followed him as they rode toward the said area.

***In The Bushes Near Hoss And Little Joe***

"We'll take the big one first. Maybe we can succeed where the others failed." Said the leader of fifteen men named Castiel Winchester.

"How we going to do that, Cas?" Asked one of the men.

"By taking the Cartwright boys one at a time. Now remember, we need to get Adam Cartwright before those other men get him." Said Castiel. "Let's go." The men all ran out of the bushes and surrounded Hoss and Little Joe.

"What do you fellas want?" Hoss asked the men.

"You. Get 'em boys!" Castiel ordered the men. The men and the two Cartwrights started fighting.

Hoss punched Cas right in the face and then landed another punch when the other was stunned. Little Joe was holding out pretty good on his own but suddenly two guys overwhelmed him and knocked him unconscious.

"Little brother-" Hoss was knocked unconscious as well and Cas wiped the blood off his face.

"Tie them up." He instructed then got on his horse and rode off.

***Adam and Ben***

"And we're finished." Ben wiped the sweat off his brow. "Good job, Adam. Now let's go back to the house for supper, Hoss and Joe should also be done and heading back as well." Ben instructed.

Adam nodded and got on his horse then together they rode home.

Once they were inside the house they saw dinner ready on the table and Hop Sing standing and waiting. "You take too long." He said.

"We had a long day of work, I apologize." Ben said, sitting down.

Adam sat down as well. "Why aren't Little Joe and Hoss here, yet?"

"They no come! Food get cold! Hop Sing cook all day and they no come!" Hop Sing said. Adam and Ben looked at each other.

"Hop Sing, keep my food warm. I'll be back soon." Adam said. He ran out of the house and grabbed his gun on the way out. Ben followed his oldest son. Hop Sing was left muttering to yourself. Ben walked outside but didn't see Adam. He looked around and headed for the barn.

***In The Barn***

Thud! A horse whinnied as something hit it hard from behind. Adam wiped his mouth with his arm and saw the second man, that had come with the one who attacked Adam, himself at him. They went down in the hay as Ben Cartwright came in. He saw his oldest son fighting the man. Adam was on top of the man when the one Adam had thought was down got up and pulled Adam off his partner. Adam struggled with the man as the other one got up. The second man punched Adam and Adam doubled over as much as he could with the first man holding him by his arms. Ben took out his gun and they all heard him cock it back.

"Let him go." Ben said. The man holding Adam let him go. Adam sucked in air for a minute then punched the man who had held him. The second man tried to get Adam but Adam punched him too. Both men fell unconscious." How many times have I told you boys no fighting in the barn?" Adam half smiled at his father.

"Now we need to figure out where Hoss and Joe are." Ben said.

"Do you think those men got them..?" Adam sighed.

"I hope not because if they did then we are in serious trouble." Ben shook his head.

"Come on, pa. We need to search everywhere to make sure." Adam ran out of the barn and got on a horse then rode off. Ben followed.

They spent most of the night searching their land for any sign of the lost Cartwrights but there was no luck.

"Now what?" Adam asked his dad hopelessly.

"We report this to Sheriff Roy Coffee."

***In Virginia City***

Adam and Ben pulled up at the sheriff's office.

"Adam, I'll go talk t Roy while you get us some rooms at the hotel." Ben said. Adam nodded and rode off to the hotel. Adam dismounted in front of the hotel and walked in. He heard a groan and looked to see the hotel clrk, Mr. Potts, on the floor behind his desk. Adam went over and helped him up.

"Mr. Potts, what happened?" Adam asked.

"They've got your brothers, Adam." Mr. Potts said. "Room 5." Adam ran up the stairs to room number 5, took out his gun, and kicked the door in. Inside the room, he saw his brothers gagged and tied back to back on the floor.

"Nice of you to join us, Adam Cartwright." Said a man from inside the room.

It was Castiel and he closed the door behind him.

"Let my brothers go." Adam demanded.

"Oh I will. But in exchange I'd like you." Castiel said.

"... How about no." Adam pulled out his gun and shot two quick shots, one bullet hitting Cas and the other grazing.

He then hurry up and untied his brothers.

"Thanks older brother." Hoss said.

"No problem," Adam looked at Little Joe, "Where's my thank you from you?"

"You're not getting one, I could've easily escaped on my own." Little Joe crossed his arms.

"Yeah sure." Adam chuckled.

Click! Adam froze when he heard the click of a gun behind him.

"Youre not going anywhere Adam. Men! Get in here!" Castiel said. 7 men came running in. "Two of you get Adam Cartwright." Castiel said as 6 more men came in. Adam was grabbed and his hands tied behind his back.

"Let our brother go, Castiel." Little Joe said. Castiel laughed as he gagged Adam.

"Let's get him out of here boys. You 5 stay here and keep these two occupied then come after us." Castiel said. Then he and his men led Adam out leaving five men to keep Hoss and Little Joe from following Castiel and his men.

"We knew he was going to save you." One of the men explained to Little Joe.

"Yeah, now we can get a pretty high ransom for him." The other one laughed.

"Combine that money with the little lady's ransom we are going to get and we'll be rich!"

"Little lady?" Little Joe gasped. "He must be talking about-"

"Alright boys we're done, knock 'em out." Castiel came back and instructed.

"With pleasure." The mean cracked their knuckles then knocked Hoss and Joe's heads together, knocking then out cold. Then they left.

When Hoss and Little Joe woke up they left the room in search of their Pa. Ben had just entered the hotel when he saw his two sons come down the stairs.

"Hoss, Joe! Where's Adam? Are you two okay?" Ben asked his sons.

"Pa, this man named Castiel has Adam and Annabelle. He's holding them for ransom." Joe said.

"He kidnapped Adam after he had untied us and two of his men knocked us unconscious." Hoss said. "

Adam? Kidnapped?" Ben said.

"Yeah. Pa, how are we going to get Adam back?" Hoss asked. Ben stared at his sons with a blank stare. Hoss and Joe looked at each other.

"Let's go after them." Joe said, trying to go past his father but Ben stopped him.

"No. We'll wait for a ransom demand if they send one." Ben said. Little Joe ran a hand through hair.

"When do you think the ransom will come, pa?" Hoss asked.

"I don't know but I hope it's soon."

"Me too..." Little Joe sighed.

***Where Adam is***

Adam was tied and thrown into a dark room.

"Is someone there?" Came a feminine voice from somewhere behind him as the door closed. Adam tried to sit up but couldn't with his hands and feet tied. But when he heard the voice her looked around.

"Anabelle?" Adam called out.

"W-w-who's there?" Said the female voice.

"Anabelle, its me Adam Cartwright." Adam said.

"Adam?! Is it really you?!" Anabelle asked.

"Yes and I'd come over to you but I'm tied up." Adam said as the door opened and Castiel entered with some men and lanterns.

"And you'll stay that way until I say so, Cartwright." Castiel said. "Why did you come here?" Adam asked.

"I just wanted to see how my captives were doing." Castiel replied.

"Well we're doing fine so goodbye now." Adam rolled his eyes.

"How are you, Annabelle?"Cas asked, ignoring Adam.

"...Fine." Came the woman's reply.

"Good. Dinner in about two hours." Cas then left with his men. Adam looked at Annabelle and then watched as she walked away.

"Annabelle? Are you alright?" Adam asked. "Yes... I'm sorry for pulling you into this." Annabelle replied.

"You didn't exactly... 'pull me into this.'" Adam said.

"Yes I did and I'm sorry." Annabelle said.

".. Did you write your dad that letter?" Adam asked her.

"What letter?" Annabelle asked, seriously having no clue about what he just asked.

'So it was forged...' Adam thought. Adam sat quietly thinking.

"What letter Adam?" Annabelle asked again Impatiently.

"A letter that was left for your father saying you left to go look for a man. A name was written and it was my name. You father came to the Ponderosa, knocked on our door, and asked if I had seen you. I told him no. Ow! Why do my hands have to be kept tied behind me? Anyway, I told the sheriff in Virginia City about it and he said it was forged but I didn't believe it." Adam said. Suddenly, Adam sat up. "No. No, no, no,no,. It can't be. It just can't be."

"What is it, Adam?" Annabelle asked. Adam heard footsteps and the door opened.

"How are my prisoners tonight? What's the matter Adam?" Castiel asked. Adam stared at him, cautiously. "Ah, you've figured it out." Adam went back in time to when he was a boy of 18. * Adam heard horses and ran outside thinking it was his Pa and some of the hands. It wasn't them at all. Instead it was 6 men and they saw Adam.

"Well lookee here! Its one of Cartwright's boys. Come here kid." Said one of the men. Adam ran back inside and slammed the door closed. Once it was closed, Adam locked it. Marie, Ben Cartwright's third wife and mother of Little Joe- who was only 2 at the time- heard the door and looked over. Hoss was playing with Little Joe but stopped to look up at Adam. Little Joe looked too. Suddenly 6 men came in from the kitchen and Adam went to run but a man caught him. He pulled Adam over to the leader of the men as the door was kicked open. Ben Cartwright and 8 ranch hands had guns drawn and Adam was let go.

"This isn't over, Cartwright. Not for you or your son here. We'll get him again then we'll get what we want." The men left and Adam told his pa what had happened.* Now 18 years later, the same man had successfully kidnapped Adam.

"Its been 18 years since you failed at kidnapping me. Now you succeeded and you'll get the money you were after, Castiel." Adam said. Castiel smiled and Adam glared at him.


End file.
